Multi-Platform Updates

FireChat gives you an offline, no-network way to text with people nearby, using the magic of BluetoothLE. Previously, that meant you could text from Android to Android, or iDevice to iDevice, but this week's update lets you cross the streams. The text streams! [Android] [iOS]

Theoretically, we've all got the time and energy to comparison-shop every item on our grocery lists. Reality rarely complies to that ideal. StockUp takes out the footwork, with a user-updated database of prices for nearly 400,000 grocery items that helps you find out which nearby store has the best price on the items you need. And that's not the only way it helps you save money: enter the prices at your store, and receive points that you can redeem for actual cash. [Android] [iOS]

Between Instagram, VSCOcam, and any of a dozen other photography apps, you've probably got all kinds of pictures stored on your smartphone. Protect against the inevitable with Trunx, which organizes all your photos and automatically stores them to the cloud or your Dropbox account. You can even set up public or private photo albums to share your images with exactly the people you want to see them. [Android] [iOS]

Android

Robustly updated and un-bug-ified this week, BrightNest is a great app that gives you schedules, reminders, and helpful hints that motivate you to keep a tidy, organized, sparkling home. Wired calls it "Lifehacker for your home," which is both a really great compliment and a very strange sentence to type ("magazine calls app 'a blog for your building'"). [Free]

At the end of last year, Aviate rolled out this cool, contextual Android launcher that changes your home screen and default app list to fit wherever you're at in your day (office, home, laaaaate night). At the time it was invite-only, but as of this week the handy launcher (now branded as a Yahoo joint) is available to everyone. It may not be the most tinker-able Android launcher, but it's a super-handy contextual setup that feels almost magical. [Free]

iOS

This week, Dropbox updated its iOS app with three nice new features. You can now drag-and-drop to reorder your favorite files, link your computer to your account in-app (using your camera to scan a code on your computer screen), and save files directly from your iDevice even more quickly. [Free]

Streaming movie services are great! Trying to pick a movie to stream is the actual definition of purgatory. MovieMood takes away the tedium of trying to choose: just pick a color that corresponds with your mood, and the app suggests the movie you should watch. You can even click through to buy or rent the movie on iTunes, if that's your jam. [Free]

Windows Phone

This week, Skype updated its Windows Phone 8 app to work with Cortana. Now your disembodied WinPhone voice assistant can dial up whoever you want to talk to, anywhere around the world. Elsewhere, the app adds spellcheck for texts, and boosts the list of supported languages to 51. [Free]